One million parachutists. Andreev Evgeniy Nikolaevich How the family of the ex-head of the FSO lives and what they own

Flight faces

E.N. Andreev - Hero of the Soviet Union (1962), Honored Test Paratrooper of the USSR (1985), Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1963). Colonel.

Born in Novosibirsk 4 September 1926 He was educated in an orphanage. In the ranks of the Soviet Army since 1943. He studied at a flight school in Armavir, in a group of parachute equipment testers at the USSR Air Force Research Institute.

In 1955 he graduated from the Ryazan Airborne School. After graduation, he became a tester of parachute systems.

On November 1, 1962, as part of a secret experiment conducted by the head of the Soviet space program S.P. Korolev, from the Volsky training ground on the SS-Volga stratospheric balloon, together with P.I. Dolgov rose to a height of 25,500 meters and made a parachute jump. He covered 24,500 meters in free fall with a maximum speed of 900 kilometers per hour. Thus, he set world records for time (4 minutes 30 seconds) and free fall distance (24,500 m) counted by the International Aviation Federation (FAI).

Notes in the margins: This is how Evgeniy Nikolaevich recalled about the assault on the stratosphere: “I don’t feel the usual elasticity of the air. To make the glazing of the pressure helmet freeze less, I turn over on my back. In the boundless darkness of the black sky, the stars are shining, they seem very close and somehow not real. I look at the altimeter - already nineteen thousand meters. At this altitude, the fall occurs at the highest speed. When I reached a height of twelve thousand meters, the speed decreased, the tension devices of the high-altitude suit weakened. I sigh freely, straighten my body and turn over face down.

Below is the Volga with its many tributaries. Although I’m wearing a marine life jacket over my high-altitude equipment, I don’t feel like swimming, I decide to get away from the water, choosing a huge field as a reference point, turn around and plan at an angle of forty-five degrees in its direction. At an altitude of one thousand five hundred meters the alarm device goes off. After twenty seconds the device will open the parachute. I take one last look at my equipment and grab the pull ring with my left hand. You don’t have to pull it out, the parachute opens automatically.”

Having landed, Evgeniy Nikolaevich began to look for his friend, who was supposed to land later. Far to the side I noticed two open domes, and my heart began to beat joyfully: “Alive!” But the joy was premature - Pyotr Ivanovich Dolgov, leaving the hatch, hit the glazing of his spacesuit on a sharp bolt securing the pipeline on the ship. The hole was the size of a pinhead, but oxygen instantly escaped through it, and the parachutes lowered the already lifeless body of the brave parachutist to the ground.

The feat of Evgeny Nikolaevich Andreev and Pyotr Ivanovich Dolgov was awarded the country's highest award.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December 12, 1962, for the courage and heroism shown during the testing of parachute equipment, Evgeniy Nikolaevich Andreev and Pyotr Ivanovich Dolgov (by name) were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

On October 14, 2012, Austrian Felix Baumgartner set a series of new records, breaking Andreev’s altitude record by 12,000 m. Andreev’s record for free fall duration stood: the Austrian parachutist was in free flight for 4 minutes 20 seconds.

In 1985, E.N. Andreev was one of the first in the country to be awarded the honorary title “Honored Test Parachutist of the USSR”, badge No. 3.

In total, Evgeny Andreev made 8 jumps from the stratosphere. He has 4,800 parachute jumps, including 8 world records.

Author of the book "The Sky Around Me".

Lived in the village of Chkalovsky. Died on February 9, 2000. He was buried in the cemetery of the village of Leonikha, Shchelkovsky district, Moscow region.
Awarded the Orders of Lenin (1962), Red Star (1967); medals.

Greetings, dear friends, buddies and friends!
A year ago I started my daily column - “Flight Faces”. The time has come to finish this plan - quite troublesome and thankless.
I don’t know when I’ll shut down this project... Any day, starting next Monday.
I promise to return to it regularly when the appropriate occasion or desire arises.
So, we will continue to meet again - on other sections.
All the best!!!

October 14, 2012 Austrian extreme skydiver Felix Baumgartner about 39 kilometers, having developed a speed of 1357.6 kilometers per hour in free fall. October 25, 2014 Google executive Alan Eustace surpassed Baumgartner's result, jumping from a height of 41,420 m and reaching a speed of 1,321 km per hour.

It is worth noting, however, that experts place Eustace’s achievement in a special category - when jumping, he used a stabilizing parachute, which significantly facilitates the person’s position during the jump and eliminates the deadly “twist”, in which the body goes into uncontrolled rotation.

So Felix Baumgartner's achievement is more "pure". But the Austrian extreme sportsman, who updated many records during his jump, did not surpass the achievement of the Soviet parachutist Evgeniy Andreev in terms of free fall duration. Baumgartner was in free fall for 4 minutes 20 seconds, and Andreev for 4 minutes 30 seconds.

Parachute instead of front

Unlike Baumgartner and Eustace, parachute jumping for Evgeny Andreev was not a sport, not an extreme hobby, but a real profession.

When the war began, 14-year-old Zhenya was studying at a vocational school, after which he stood at a factory machine and sharpened blanks for shells.

At the height of the war, he was drafted into the army, sent to study in a reserve regiment. Evgeniy dreamed of a navy, but, having ended up in the infantry, he was still eager to go to the front to fight the Nazis.

However, the physically strong and healthy guy was left in the reserve regiment, from which he was then sent for a medical examination. After it, the young soldier was announced: he was heading to the Armavir pilot school, where he was to master the profession of a parachutist.

Like all cadets, he first thoroughly mastered the duties of a parachute handler and only then was allowed to jump. Cadet Andreev performed his very first jump confidently, without fear, which earned him the approval of the instructors.

After undergoing special training, Evgeniy Andreev became a member of the group of parachute equipment testers at the Air Force Research Institute.

Do you see the shark? But she exists!

In 1947, Andreev, together with his colleagues, began testing rescue means for pilots of new jet aircraft that were just entering service.

Among the test jumps were splashdown jumps, not in the warm Black Sea, but in the chilly Barents Sea.

As they say, only fools are afraid of anything. Test parachutist Andreev was not afraid of anything in the sky, but in the sea he felt uneasy from... sharks. On the eve of the jumps, an experienced sailor told him how in these waters during the war, a pilot who jumped with a parachute into the sea was eaten by a shark.

How true this story was is unknown, but, as Andreev himself recalled, all night he dreamed exclusively of sharks.

However, work is work, and the next day the parachutist, dressed in a test suit, completed the jump. A rubber boat tied to it with a cord was supposed to splash down with him.

However, everything went wrong. The boat was carried away by a strong wind, and the cord connecting it to the paratrooper tore a part from Andreev’s suit. Ice water began to get inside the survival suit, which lost its buoyancy. With great difficulty, Andreev managed to inflate the collar of the suit, remaining afloat.

But the parachutist himself admitted that all this seemed trivial to him against the backdrop of a possible “shark threat.” However, everything worked out - the helicopter arrived and picked up the tester safely.

Following the example of Maresyev

Testing ejection seats and other equipment was fraught with many dangers for paratroopers. During one of the ejections from a high-speed bomber, which Andreev himself considered not very difficult, the paratrooper immediately after leaving the cockpit felt severe pain. The fall was not normal, and he suddenly saw his right leg, which lay horizontally on the air flow at an angle of ninety degrees to the body, like a foreign object.

In some incredible way, the injured tester managed to make a relatively soft landing. As it turned out later, at the moment of separation, a chair hit his thigh. The injury was monstrous - the leg turned into a bloody mess, 16 centimeters of bone were crushed into small pieces.

Doctors at the Sklifosovsky Institute rendered a verdict: amputation! But the 27-year-old parachutist insisted: save your leg, I want to return to the profession. Decided to do the impossible surgeon Alexey Smirnov, who, together with his colleagues, spent two months “gluing” the crippled bone back together piece by piece. Another year was spent on rehabilitation, after which Andreev appeared before a medical board.

The commission members, having studied the medical documents, announced: you will serve, but no jumps.

And then Evgeny Andreev did almost the same thing as pilot Alexey Maresyev, - decided to clearly show the commission his capabilities.

From the memoirs of Evgeny Andreev: “The doctors are looking and shaking their heads. No, they say, friend, serve, but forgive me for jumping. Ah well?! - Think. Yes, he ran up, did a back somersault, fixed the stand on one hand... “To hell with you,” the general, chairman of the commission, waved his hand. “Jump.”

After that terrible injury, one of the parachutist’s legs became 4 centimeters shorter than the other. But this did not stop him from making unique test jumps.

Why cows don't like skydivers

Sometimes testers experienced completely unexpected problems during landing. One day, a group that included Andreev was performing precision landing jumps in the specified area. We had to land on an ordinary meadow that did not foretell any problems.

But when the paratroopers began to descend, it turned out that a herd of cows was peacefully grazing at the landing site. And the testers had to sit down right among the cows.

The first paratrooper sat astride the cow. He hurried to jump off it, but then a dome descended on the poor animal, covering it entirely. The cow, panicking, began to rush about, dragging behind it the parachutist who had not had time to unfasten his belt. A few minutes later, real chaos began on the field. Cows mooed desperately, paratroopers tried to collect parachutes and get out of this nightmare. And then a bull appeared, clearly intending to teach the uninvited guests a lesson.

Order was restored only with the appearance of an old shepherd, who drove away the bull, helped the paratroopers get out and bitterly complained: “Why did you, falcons, disperse all the cattle for me?”

Experiment on the instructions of Korolev

In the early 1960s, Evgeny Andreev, as one of the best test parachutists, was included in a group that worked on testing rescue equipment for the first Soviet cosmonauts.

After Gagarin's flight, in the fall of 1962, on instructions chief designer of Soviet space technology Sergei Korolev, an experiment was planned to conduct a parachute jump from “near space” - from a height of 25,000 meters.

Pyotr Dolgov - parachute equipment tester, Air Force colonel. Photo: wikimapia.org

The secret experiment was called "Star". Its participants were appointed Evgeny Andreev And Peter Dolgov.

Dolgov had to test an automatic parachute of his own design, which should open the parachute immediately after the jump. He had to make the jump in a special spacesuit. Andreev’s jump had to be carried out in a regular high-altitude anti-g suit for fighter pilots. He had to fly in free fall for about 24 kilometers, opening the dome only a kilometer from the ground.

On November 1, 1962, the Volga stratospheric balloon, whose cabin imitated the descent module of the Vostok spacecraft, rose from a test site located near the city of Volsk, Saratov region. Before the ascent, Dolgov and Andreev were subjected to desaturation - the lungs were purged with oxygen, nitrogen was removed from the blood so that it would not “boil” under large changes in atmospheric pressure.

The ascent lasted three hours and 25 minutes. During this time, the Volga reached a height of 25,458 meters. According to the experiment program, Evgeniy Andreev was the first to make the jump.

4 minutes 30 seconds

From the memoirs of Evgeniy Andreev: “I shot off the cover of my hatch through which I had to eject, waved goodbye to Dolgov, turned over on my back so that the heat transfer was less, and forward. Before this I had to jump a lot at night. And yet the sky was amazing: thick, inky color, and the stars were very close. I glanced down over my shoulder, and there was blue, bright orange sun... Beautiful.”

The free fall from “near space” began at 10:13. Andreev was flying to the ground with his back down, in a position in which it was extremely difficult to control his body. It turned over at approximately 12,000 meters. My hands were so cold that they lost sensitivity, and the glass of my helmet froze. Trying to warm his hands, which the parachutist needs as rudders, Andreev squeezed and unclenched them, which led to a tailspin. But the squeezing and unclenching had an effect - the returned sensitivity in the hands allowed the parachutist to stabilize the flight.

Suddenly Andreev was shaken sharply - the automatic system released the parachute. Soon he landed safely.

Evgeny Andreev spent 4 minutes 30 seconds in free fall, during which time he flew down 24,500 meters.

“Only he didn’t return from the battle...”

Once on the ground, the parachutist first looked at the sky - the canopy of Peter Dolgov’s parachute was visible there. It seemed that the jump of the second tester was also going according to plan.

The technology really did not fail, but Andreev’s partner landed already dead.

The specialists who developed the Zvezda experiment program did not take into account one nuance - at an altitude of over 25 kilometers, the stratospheric balloon cabin needed more time in order to reach a state of stability in rarefied air conditions after Andreev’s jump.

Pyotr Dolgov began completing the task at the time provided for by the experiment plan. But at that moment the cabin continued to sway. Because of this, when exiting the cockpit, Dolgov hit his helmet against a small pin in the hatch opening. The pin punched a 9x16 mm hole in the helmet. The tester died as a result of depressurization.

By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated December 12, 1962, for the courage and heroism shown during the testing of parachute equipment, Evgeniy Andreev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal. Pyotr Dolgov was posthumously awarded the same award.

Evgeny Andreev completed his military service with the rank of colonel, and in 1985 he became one of the first in the country to be awarded the title “Honored Test Parachutist of the USSR.” Andreev received badge number 3.

His predecessor did not live up to Felix Baumgartner's record. Evgeniy Nikolaevich Andreev died on February 9, 2000 at the age of 73 years. He is buried in the cemetery of the village of Leonikha, Shchelkovsky district, Moscow region.

Wikipedia has articles about other people with this surname, see Andreev. Andreev, Evgeniy Nikolaevich (parachutist) (1926 2000) test parachutist, Hero of the Soviet Union. Andreev, Evgeny Nikolaevich (teacher) (1829 1889) technologist and... ... Wikipedia

Andreev Evgeniy Nikolaevich Encyclopedia "Aviation"

Andreev Evgeniy Nikolaevich- E. N. Andreev Andreev Evgeniy Nikolaevich (b. 1926) Soviet paratrooper, colonel, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1963), Honored Test Paratrooper of the USSR (1985), Hero of the Soviet Union (1962). Graduated from the Airborne School in... ... Encyclopedia "Aviation"

- (b. 1926) Soviet paratrooper, colonel, Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1963), Honored Test Paratrooper of the USSR (1985), Hero of the Soviet Union (1962). Graduated from the Airborne School in Alma Ata (1955). In 1947 1986 parachute tester... Encyclopedia of technology

- (b. 1926) test paratrooper, Hero of the Soviet Union (1962). Tested parachute systems, spacesuits and other equipment. In 1962, he was the only one in the world to perform a jump from a height of 25.5 km... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Privy Councilor, founder and honorary member of the Imperial Russian Technical Society, b. in Taganrog October 4, 1829, d. July 12, 1889 in Paris. He received his education at St. Petersburg University, where, in 1849, he graduated from the course... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

- (b. 1926), Honored Test Paratrooper of the USSR (1958), Colonel, Hero of the Soviet Union (1962), Honored Master of Sports of the USSR (1963). He also tested ejection installations. Made about 4800 parachute jumps, the only skydiver in the world... encyclopedic Dictionary

Wikipedia has articles about other people with this surname, see Andreev. Andreev, Evgeniy: Andreev, Evgeniy Nikolaevich: Andreev, Evgeniy Nikolaevich (parachutist) (1926 2000) test parachutist, Hero of the Soviet Union. Andreev, Evgeniy... ...Wikipedia

How the family of the ex-head of the FSO lives and what they own

And who said that Russian pensioners live poorly! Some are very good. Take, for example, Lyudmila Murova. She’s in her eighties, and she not only continues to head the board of trustees of the Russian Curling Federation, but also suddenly became one of the richest women in the country, having bought several large companies at once. In recent years, the woman has lived on a modest state pension and has saved up. And the fact that her husband Evgeny Murov, until last year, headed the Federal Security Service, which generously distributes government contracts, is probably a coincidence.

In October, Forbes wrote that Lyudmila Murova became a co-owner of one of the largest medical companies in the country - the Unified Medical Center, which last year alone brought 1.3 billion rubles in net profit, practically crushing the market in St. Petersburg for issuing government certificates for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and FMS. Previously, this company belonged to the arrested St. Petersburg businessman Dmitry Mikhalchenko, whose structures under Evgeny Murov actively collaborated with the FSO.

People have been shouting to Lyudmila Murova for a long time: “Come on, come on, three, three!”
// Photo: curlingrussia.com

But this is not Mikhalchenko’s only asset that went to Murova. There are others too. What about assets? Even the dacha of the shadow oligarch in the village of Ovsyanoye, as Sobesednik found out, also came under the control of a former security official. Now both this estate with a jacuzzi on the shore of Lake Nakhimovskoye and the nearby infrastructure (including a huge health complex) are registered in the name of Mikhalchenko’s ex-company Storent. One half of the company is owned by Lyudmila Murova, the other is owned by her husband’s former KGB colleague Nikolai Negodov.

Port for "Vladimir"

The same Murova today also owns a share in LLC Property Management Plant Izmeron. “Today Izmeron,” says the plant’s website, “is one of the technological leaders in Russia in the market of downhole equipment for the oil and gas industry.” Even Gazprom Design rents real estate here.

But the most delicious asset that passed from the arrested businessman to the pensioner is the Phoenix company, which is completing the construction of the Bronka cargo port in St. Petersburg. The authorized capital of Phoenix is about 11 billion rubles; at the beginning of this year, the balance sheet was 10 billion more. Half of this property belongs to the same Murova. True, all the company’s shares and part of the real estate are still pledged to Sberbank (under the loan that Mikhalchenko, while still free, took out for the construction of Bronka), so now the sea harbor is only operating at half capacity. But among the cargo ships there are already regular customers. For example, twice a month the container ship Vladimir, sailing under the proud Cypriot flag, docks in Bronka.

The wife of a retired FSO director “swimmed” to the port of Bronka
// Photo: Global Look Press

Formally, Dmitry Mikhalchenko was arrested for smuggling alcohol, but he himself connects his criminal case specifically with the struggle for control over this port. Today, Lyudmila Murova’s companies, including Bronka Group, are headed by her 22-year-old grandson Nikita. Five years ago, this young man was unable to pass the entrance competition for the Law Faculty at St. Petersburg State University, having entered there only through the security forces quota, and suddenly - such a rise. “Interlocutor” asked the novice top manager: “Is changing the owner of the port a victory over the raiders or a defeat from them?” But I never received an answer. It is possible that we will still win. Murova's surname as a co-owner of not only the business, but also the estate of the arrested businessman is an excellent guarantee of protection from unnecessary attacks from outside.

Quiet "Forum"

But an attempt to take a comment directly at the port of Bronka turned into an unexpected revelation.

Interesting things. If Phoenix formally moved to the Murovs, then HC Forum officially still remains with Mikhalchenko’s people. Or are they hiding something from us and all the rest of his property (and the entire Izmeron, and the whole block on Krasny Tekstilshchik Street in St. Petersburg, and the local restaurant chain) are also under the Murovs’ thumb? I call the phone number that Novikov dictated, and I actually end up in the “Forum”.

“No, our structures are not connected in any way,” said Elmira Mamedova, a representative of the holding.

– Why then was I redirected to you?

– Because I am a good person and can answer your questions.

After reading a dozen questions that included information already known to readers of Sobesednik, Mamedova answered:

– It seems that you know more than me.

She asked for time for a more detailed comment so that the readers of Sobesednik would find out whether the ex-head of the FSO managed to move to Ovsyanoye, who now owns the entire Forum holding company, as well as under what conditions and for what money Lyudmila Murova got the St. Petersburg business Mikhalchenko.

The house in Ovsyanoy, where Mikhalchenko lived, became a “nursing home”
// Photo: Open Coast Movement

Where does the money come from?

What if the financial rise of the retired Murovs is connected with their son Andrei, who decided to give his parents a gift for their old age? Unlikely. Of course, Andrei Murov is a well-known manager, at one time he even headed Pulkovo Airport and is still listed as the director of the Valdai heliport at the presidential residence. Today he heads the board of FGC UES, but according to the open declaration that Andrei Evgenievich filed in 2014, his annual income did not reach 68 million rubles. Decent, but clearly not enough to buy a port. Rather, it was the parents who helped their son financially. In any case, it was his mother who gave him the mansion in the Rublyovsky village of Landshaft, registered in the name of Andrei Murov, worth more than a billion rubles for the New Year 2010.

At the same time, Lyudmila Murova herself, without any formal gifts, turned out to be the owner of several elite apartments in St. Petersburg and Moscow, only one of which (by the way, received from the state - in Daevoy Lane) she re-registered last year to a certain Galina Genieva. Genieva’s full namesake heads the HOA “Kamennoostrovsky, 56” in St. Petersburg. Her apartment in that elite St. Petersburg building previously belonged to ex-senator Andrei Molchanov, whose construction company, LSR Group, actively collaborated with the FSO under Murov. In addition to the Molchanov family, the full namesake of Olga Grigorieva, the daughter of Alexander Grigoriev, a former colleague of Putin and Murov in the St. Petersburg state security agencies, also settled in the same club mansion. Everything for our own.

Dossier

72-year-old Evgeny Murov, a native of foreign intelligence, was part of the leadership of the FSB in St. Petersburg in the 90s, and after Putin was elected president in 2000, he headed the Federal Security Service. He was fired last year “at his own request.” The resignation followed immediately after the arrest of St. Petersburg businessman Dmitry Mikhalchenko, whose companies received dubious government contracts from the FSO.

Oleg Roldugin

A Evgeniy Nikolaevich ndreev - parachute equipment tester at the USSR Air Force Research Institute, colonel.
Born on September 4, 1926 in the city of Novosibirsk in the family of an employee. Russian. Member of the CPSU since 1972. In 1937-42 he was brought up in an orphanage in the city of Serov, Sverdlovsk region. He worked at a factory in the city of Nizhny Tagil.
In the Soviet Army since 1943. He studied at the Armavir pilot school. Since November 1947 - in the group of parachute equipment testers at the USSR Air Force Research Institute. In 1955 he graduated from the Ryazan Airborne School.
In 1957, he jumped from a height of 14,800 meters both day and night, opening his parachute at an altitude of 600 meters. Tested various ejection seats of supersonic jet aircraft.
November 1, 1962 E.N. Andreev performed a jump from the Volga balloon from a height of 25,500 meters and fell, without opening his parachute, 24,500 meters. Its flight in free fall lasted 270 seconds with a minimum speed of 900 kilometers per hour.
U KAZAK of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on December 12, 1962 for the courage and heroism shown during the testing of parachute equipment, Andreev Evgeniy Nikolaevich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 11092).
On the account of the Honored Master of Sports of the USSR, Honored Test Parachutist of the USSR, Colonel E.N. Andreeva - 8 world records, over 4,500 difficult parachute jumps, including 8 jumps from the stratosphere.
Lived in the village of Chkalovsky (within the city of Shchelkovo) in the Moscow region. Died on February 9, 2000. He was buried in the cemetery of the village of Leonikha, Shchelkovsky district.
Awarded the Order of Lenin, the Red Star, and medals.
On the Alley of Heroes of the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School named after. A bust of the Hero was installed in V. F. Margelov.
Composition:
The sky is all around me. M.: DOSAAF, 1983.

FROM THE MEMORIES OF E.N. ANDREEVA ABOUT STORMING THE STRATOSPHERE:
“During preparations for the flight into the stratosphere, I made my 1,500th anniversary jump. This happened in the morning, and a little later the postman began carrying stacks of congratulatory telegrams. He also brought a welcome address with many signatures of my workmates.
November 1, 1962. Five o'clock in the morning. We undergo a thorough medical examination and put on high-altitude gear. An hour later the bus brings you to the airfield. Specialists check the ship, and we take our places. A comprehensive check of all systems begins.
“All systems are working normally,” Pyotr Ivanovich Dolgov reports to the flight director.
Time seven hours forty-four minutes. The “Start” command followed, and a huge structure more than a hundred meters high slowly moved upward. There is no usual roar of engines, there is silence, only the needles of numerous instruments came to life and the first data was requested over the radio.
Each of us fills out a flight schedule and transmits data to the ground. Special sensors report down through telemetry about our condition: pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart function. As the altitude increases, the sky changes color. It first turns pale blue, then blue-violet and finally black. The ship is warm and cozy, but outside it is cold. At an altitude of thirteen thousand meters, the thermometer shows sixty-five degrees below zero, then it gets a little warmer, and the temperature settles at minus sixty-one degrees Celsius.
Height twenty-two thousand meters. For the first time in the world, such a milestone was reached on January 30, 1934 by our Soviet stratonauts P.F. Fedoseenko, A.B. Vasenko and I.D. Usyskin on the Osoaviakhim-1 stratospheric balloon.
A little more than half an hour of climbing, and we reach the balance zone. Rate of climb zero. Height twenty-five thousand four hundred fifty-eight meters. It took us two hours and twenty minutes to dial it.
There is excess pressure, and you get permission to depressurize completely.
Through the glass wall of the thermal partition I see the calm, smiling face of Pyotr Ivanovich.
Goodbye, Petya!
Bon Voyage!
According to the old tradition, I put my right hand to the helmet to greet. Then I transfer it to the handrail of the chair. I sharply squeeze the levers of the chair and shoot into the void.
The usual elasticity of the air is not felt. To make the glazing of the pressure helmet freeze less, I turn over onto my back.
In the boundless darkness of the black sky, the stars glow, they seem very close and somehow not real. I look at the altimeter - it’s already nineteen thousand meters. At this height the fall occurs at the greatest speed. When he reached a height of twelve thousand meters, the speed decreased, and the tension devices of the high-altitude suit weakened. I breathe freely, straighten my body and turn over face down. It becomes very easy to fall. Below is the Volga with its many tributaries. Although I’m wearing a marine life jacket over my high-altitude equipment, I don’t feel like swimming, I decide to get away from the water, choosing a huge field as a reference point, turn around and plan at an angle of forty-five degrees in its direction. At an altitude of one thousand five hundred meters the alarm device goes off. After twenty seconds the device will open the parachute. I take one last look at my equipment and grab the pull ring with my left hand. There is no need to pull it out; the parachute opens automatically.
I examined the dome - everything is in order. I removed the glazing of the pressure helmet and determined the approximate landing point. Here is the land. I stayed on my feet and ran about twenty meters until the parachute extinguished. I spread the dome on the ground so that I could be detected more quickly from the air, and lay down in the center.
All thoughts were now with